Iron Dukes is the sort of game people get into the industry with the hope of one day making. Specifically, people like Darren Koepp and Tynan Wales, two veterans of the gaming world who struck off on their own to found One Ton Ghost in order to, in their words, “make a game without any one looking over our shoulders.” Iron Dukes, the first offering from the new studio, is certainly the fulfillment of that wish: I can’t imagine many major publishers saying “Sure, bring us your RPGish pirate game set in a steampunkish alternate reality where all that matters in life is treasure and killing the evil warlock Thomas Edison. We’ll put it up against the new Halo clones next fall.”

Which is entirely their loss, as Iron Dukes is pure fun. After hiring three crew members and decking them out in the best gear money can buy (“best” being entirely relative, here – there are better weapons for my guy in the picture above than tentacle hands, but c’mon, how can you not?), you’re off on the strange seas where pirates, dolphin monsters, sunken treasure and giant mechanized crabs piloted by mad scientists await you. Gameplay is made up of three mini-games: one where you shoot things, one where you dive for treasure, and one where you navigate hellish storms. It’s a good idea to specialize you’re crew so there’s a best man for each job, but it’s not, y’know, mandatory or anything.

There’s not a lot more to say about the game. It’s fun and funny, with the consequences of performing poorly almost as satisfying as the treasure – and the treasures’ descriptions – you get for winning for winning a mini-game. The current version only lets you play one level at the moment, though there’s promise at the end of a full, probably downloadable game to come. I can’t imagine what inspired lunacy lurks beyond the first level’s Area Lord, but I can’t wait to find out.

Filed under: Monday Games